


Rise - Adrien's Battles

by Red_Hair_Dont_Care



Series: Adrien's Trials [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 04:30:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16151633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Red_Hair_Dont_Care/pseuds/Red_Hair_Dont_Care
Summary: OOF. Are y’all ready for the next part? I know I am!





	Rise - Adrien's Battles

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part, but there is something… special about it. All I’m going to say now is this: grab your popcorn, folks. This is going to be a ride.

Rise - Katy Perry

**I won't just survive**

**Oh, you will see me thrive**

**Can't write my story**

**I'm beyond the archetype**

**I won't just conform**

**No matter how you shake my core**

**'Cause my roots, they run deep, oh**

The room was small, dark, and cold. “What kind of a trial is this?” Adrien knew there wasn’t going to be an answer, but he wanted to ask anyway. “This first part is simple. All you have to do is not lose sight of the door and reach the other side. Good luck.” Nino had constantly complained about how Chat Noir lost focus whenever they were talking, and Hawk Moth had taken it upon himself to correct that. More so, he’d just gotten super annoyed from all of the complainings the teenagers did on a regular basis, and he wanted it to stop. “I’ll do better than survive your little games, Hawk Moth. I’ll thrive. You may shake me, but I will beat you.” The screen that had lit up faded and the hero was left with very little sight.

The room - despite the lack of light - was visibly being filled with water. “You think that’s going to keep me from the exit?” No answer. The blond began to wade towards the door on the other side, but Ladybug flashed in front of him. Hawk Moth knew it was an image, a projection, but Chat Noir didn’t. “L-Ladybug? I thought-” The hologram placed a small hand over his mouth. “Shhh… Dance with me, Chaton.” Music began to play, and he took his cues, just glad to have the bluenette by his side once more.

“Wait, since when-” Once again, his mouth is covered by a spandex-covered hand. “My Pretty Kitty, what did I tell you? Shut up and dance.” Now that caught him off guard. Ladybug never wanted to dance - she kept saying she had two left feet when it came to things like that. And he had never heard her say “Shut up” to anybody. Even Chloé Bourgeois, who she obviously wasn’t a fan of.

“This is part of the trial.” A glare was shot from the hologram’s eyes, but Adrien didn’t care. He clambered out of her grasp and began dashing across the water, desperate to get away from her. “Chat Noir! You come back here right now!” It sounded exactly like his girlfriend. Chat Noir nearly walked back, trance-like, but he remembered Hawk Moth’s words. “All you have to do is not lose sight of the door.” So that’s what he did. Adrien Agreste knew he could get distracted by his girlfriend sometimes, but he didn’t know it was so bad that it made one of his teammates feel like Chat was disloyal. “As soon as I get out of this mess, I owe you all an apology,” He mutters, staring through the window-like walls at his team. “I will beat the system. I will be better.”

**Oh, ye of so little faith**

**Don't doubt it, don't doubt it**

**Victory is in my veins**

**I know it, I know it**

**And I will not negotiate**

**I'll fight it, I'll fight it**

**I will transform**

He knew the others probably had little faith in him, but he knew he would be victorious. He would win. Hawk Moth was probably expecting some speech about how he would give up just so his friends would survive, but Adrien knew better. He would fight until the very end. He would fight for his friends. Finally making it through the door, Adrien enters a room slightly bigger than the last, once again empty save for a screen that lit up with Hawk Moth’s face. “I’m surprised. You have completed the first round, so I will release Carapace, as promised. If you care to know what that challenge was based on, your green friend was tired of you losing focus. Now, your next task is a little more challenging. Have fun.”

The television screen goes black for a second before it lit up the entire room once more, but this time, Hawk Moth’s face wasn't what highlighted the screen. It was an interview from one of the first akumas the group of five beat together. Before Chat became sparse. “Yes, we are all permanent Miraculous holders.” Ladybug had been the only other person who spoke before Chat Noir took over, but for the life of him, the blond couldn’t understand why. “We do plan on finding Hawk Moth’s Miraculous as well as one that was lost long ago, but that’s all we can say.” Flashes of light beamed onto Chat as reporters swarmed around him, blocking the rest of the team from view.

The clip stopped, and Hawk Moth reappeared. “Can you figure out what’s wrong with this?” The poor blond was beyond confused. “There’s nothing wrong, what are you talking about?” The tape continues to play, and something seems to resonate. “Yes, Ladybug and I are a couple.” “No, you may not ask any questions beyond that point.” “Yes, there is another couple in the team.” “No, you cannot ask who they are.” Five faint beeps ring out, and Chat waves to the camera. “That’s all we have time for. Miraculers out.”

**When, when the fire’s at my feet again**

**And the vultures all start circling**

**They’re whispering, you’re out of time**

**But still, I rise**

**This is no mistake, no accident**

**When you think the final nail is in, think again**

**Don’t be surprised, I will still rise**

“Well, I suppose I might have been a little headstrong. I didn’t really let others have a turn to answer questions, but what does that have to do with anything?” Hawk Moth’s face returns with a cackle. “Well, Chat Noir, there’s a specific word for that, and one of your teammates had quickly noticed it in you. Partially because she saw it in herself. Can you tell me what that word is?”

With a glance at his ring, Adrien realized he was disrespecting the Miraculous. “I was being egotistical, selfish.” A smirk stretched across the villain’s face as the door opened on the other side of the room. “Very good, Chat Noir. There may be hope for your friends yet.”

The blond couldn’t help but feel powerful like he had won something. Which, in a way, he had won two lives. He knew Hawk Moth would soon run out of time, that he would soon pay for all the people he’d hurt in the year and a half he’d been terrorizing Paris. “Yes, Hawk Moth. Yes, there is.”

**I must stay conscious**

**Through the madness and chaos**

**So I call on my angels**

**They say**

Back in the tubes, Ladybug and Rena Rouge fought to stay conscious. Hawk Moth had injected some sort of liquid into their veins, and it seemed to be anesthesia. Rena Rouge found it easy to stay awake - she hadn’t been completely drained. Hawk Moth had other plans for Ladybug, however. Nearly two months ago, when he’d first captured them, he’d taken their Miraculous, knowing they would come in handy when the time came. He wasn’t cruel, he was going to give them back, but Chat Noir had to learn a lesson first.

He sent the teenagers to school, - to add a little pain to the suffering - made the Gorilla pick them up every day, - sending Adrien in Nathalie’s personal car - and take them to their houses. He knew they could easily just send the police after him, but if they valued their Miraculous, they would keep quiet.

Each day, the Gorilla would utter a single message to the teens, and it scared them to death. “He says that if you run, your Kwami will be crushed, along with your Miraculous. You can say goodbye to being a superhero, and when the Guardian finds out, you will be to blame.” So they kept to the promise. They attended school, visited Hawk Moth once a week, and kept quiet. Marinette couldn’t explain it, but they were jumpy around Adrien. It was like their way of trying to ask for help, but it never seemed to get through. It just so happened that Adrien had chosen the Sunday they had their meeting to crash into Hawk Moth’s lair.

**Oh, ye of so little faith**

**Don't doubt it, don't doubt it**

**Victory is in your veins**

**You know it, you know it**

**And you will not negotiate**

**Just fight it, just fight it**

**And be transformed**

As Adrien walked into the third room, he noticed something… _unusual_ about it. It was a fun-house, with clowns, lasers, balloons, anything a jokester like him could imagine. It was practically Heaven, but there was something amiss. “What’s your game, Hawk Moth?” Another laugh sounded around the colorful room, and Hawk Moth’s face appeared on yet another television. “This round is simple, Chat Noir. Get to the other side without playing a game. Without touching a toy, or throwing a ball. Get to the other side without touching a thing, and another one of your _friends_ are set free.”

Knowing there was yet another catch, the model stared up at the masked man. “But…?” A clicking of a tongue cued Adrien’s nervous habits. “If you fail, the two remaining members of your team, along with their Miraculous, are mine. And I must say, I’ve taken a liking to the pair of earrings on this young lady over here.”

The screen turns to show Ladybug and Rena Rouge floating in separate tanks. The water had moved the bluenette’s hair so that Adrien could clearly see her earrings.

“You wouldn’t.”

A laugh is the only response Chat Noir needs to get fired up, and it works. “If you touch so much as a _hair_ on her body, you will pay **_dearly_ ** Hawk Moth.” The aforementioned man turns back to the screen to glare at the boy. “I regret to inform you, Chat Noir, but there is nothing you could do to make me _pay_. Now, are you going to finish, or do I just get these two beauties for my own?”

Barely keeping a growl from emanating, Chat Noir stares at the man above him.

“Alright. Be ready to lose, Hawk Moth.”

**‘Cause when, when the fire’s at my feet again**

**And the vultures all start circling**

**They’re whispering, you’re out of time**

**But still, I rise**

**This is no mistake, no accident**

**When you think the final nail is in, think again**

**Don’t be surprised, I will still rise**

Of course, as soon as Adrien crashed into the lair, Hawk Moth had left the room already, so it was perfect for him. Not so perfect for everybody else. They were ushered into their tanks with their transformations, quickly strapped into their masks, but not without fighting. That was the reason she looked drained. The others had quickly just let it happen, but she put up such a fight that she gave Nathalie a black eye. In return, the assistant had lowered her blood sugar levels, effectively making the girl weak enough to be put in the prison.

Just before the others went unconscious, they watched their leader, their _friend_ , being so easily defeated. It broke them, but they knew she would get them out of this. She would find a way, she had been for the past month or two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Adrien had to resist touching the balloons, to make his voice high-pitched and squeaky. The challenge didn’t make sense, though. One teammate had already been upset with him about being unfocused, but that’s what this whole task seemed to be about. Not getting distracted by the fun things sitting around him, practically _begging_ him to play with them.

Maybe that was what this task was all about. His friends often called him, “The clown of the group”, whether he was in the mask or not. Maybe it was about him having too much fun?

“No, that wouldn’t make any sense.” As he tried to figure out what the task was, Adrien found himself getting through the fun-house. “What could it be then?”

He constantly found himself wrapping his arms around themselves to prevent them from reaching out to grab things. “Think, A-Chat Noir. What could Rena Rouge or Ladybug think about you that could relate to a fun-house? Well, they’re fun… you laugh at everything… it’s hard to take anybody seriously in here… oh. Ooh…” As he reached the door, a joker popped up from a hidden compartment in the floor.

The blond quickly burst out in laughter, falling to the ground. “Chat Noir, are you getting distracted?” Ladybug appeared above him, and he shut his trap as quickly as he opened it. “Milady, I thought you were a captive?” The sweet laugh that came from her lips nearly sent Chat overboard.

“No, Sweet Kitty. He sent me to… _retrieve_ you. He decided you had failed the third task, so Rena Rouge won’t be joining us anymore. I hope you got to say your final goodbye.” Now, there was no remorse in the pretty bluebell eyes that Adrien had committed to memory, and it was then that he knew something wasn’t right.

“Ladybug, aren’t you sad that you’ll never get to see your best friend again?” She laughs again and reaches out a hand to help him up. “Chaton, I’ve got other friends. As long as I have them, I don’t need her. Or you.” That was when Chat Noir realized that she wasn’t reaching for his hand, she was reaching for his ring. “Thanks, Ladybug, but I’ll be going now.” That was all the motivation he needed to get up and make a mad dash for the door only a few feet away. “Chat Noir, you give me that Miraculous right now!” As he slammed the door, he leaned against it, panting. “Okay, Little Lady. I get it if you want to know who I am, but what’s with all the aggression?”

A fourth screen lit up a room, and Adrien is shocked at what he sees.

**Don’t doubt it, Don’t doubt it**

**Oh, oh, oh, oh**

**You know it, you know it**

**Still rise**

**Just fight it, just fight it**

**Don’t be surprised, I will still rise**

“Chat Noir? What are you doing here?” The room was filled with warm blankets, a few cups of hot cocoa, and even some chairs with pillows surrounding a fireplace. With another television screen built in. “I could ask you the same!” As the three superheroes recount the story of Hawk Moth’s capturing them, Chat Noir was visibly getting more infuriated. “So he just drained Ladybug of the things she needs to survive?” The wretched face appeared on screen, and Adrien almost called Cataclysm, but Nino could sense what he was about to do and stopped him.

“Woah, let the dude talk. Maybe he has a reason for this.” The smirk that washed over the villain’s face sent hatred through the four heroes. “In fact, your green friend here makes an excellent point. I do have a reason for what I did today, but more directly, a reason for bringing you to your friends. I was tired of hearing complaints about you, Mr. Distracted, Egotistical Clown. At least, that’s what your friends see.”

As Chat Noir looks at his teammates in turn, they can’t seem to meet his gaze. “We’re sorry. We didn’t think anybody could hear us.” Adrien silently forgave them and turned back to Hawk Moth. “Okay, but what does that have to do with Ladybug? Did she complain too?” The heroes and the villain all shook their heads. “She didn’t complain, but we could all see it in her eyes. Her posture. Whenever you showed up late or had to leave early, she was disappointed. Hurt. She wanted to believe you had a good reason the first few times, but after that, she began to lose faith. She still loved you, but she didn’t have an excuse to trust you anymore.”

Rena Rouge’s words struck home, and Adrien stomped up to the screen like an angry two-year-old who didn’t get his way. “So you sucked the life out of her?” A cackle. “Not quite. You see, I kept her alive, but only barely. Just enough for you to complete the trial and get her to a hospital. Or not. It’s up to you, Chat Noir. Are you going to save the ‘love of your life’? Or is she going to die here, with nobody to love her?”

Under his breath, Chat cursed the masked villain. “You’re wrong, Hawk Moth. Even if she were to die, we would all love her past her final breath. And you would pay.” Gesturing to the left of the heroes, a door opened at Hawk Moth’s command. “Then do your job, hero, and save the damsel in distress.”


End file.
